Wall Street Journal: Newt Gingrich Can Win GOP Nomination
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Dorothy Rabinowitz lays out a surprisingly strong argument on how Newt Gingrich could work his way up to the top of the polls and grab the Republican nomination. At the heart of her argument? “No candidate in the field comes close to his talent for connection,” Rabinowitz writes. “There’s no underestimating the importance of such a power in the presidential election ahead. His rise in the polls suggests that more and more Republicans are absorbing that fact.”
Gingrich is, indeed, rising in the polls. According to the Real Clear Politics averages, Gingrich was at 4.4% on September 12, sitting in fifth place. As of yesterday, he had climbed to 12.2% and was in third. At this time four years ago, Rudy Giuliani (30%) was leading the polls for the Republican nomination, Fred Thompson (16%) was in second, and John McCain (15.6%), the eventual nominee, was in third.
Another way of tracking Gingrich’s surging popularity as a candidate is through his appearances and mentions on television. Using TVEyes, a site that tracks and aggregates appearances on all television stations — from MTV all the way down to local news — one can see the Gingrich boom. His mentions and appearances have quadrupled in a month. In the second week of October, he was averaging 255.14 mentions on television per day. So far this week, he’s averaging 943.15 mentions each day, trailing Herman Cain (8,215, but those numbers are inflated by the string of accusations), Mitt Romney (1,795), and Rick Perry (1,505).
Yes, Gingrich has some baggage, but it’s becoming apparent that everyone in the GOP race has their baggage, as well. Mitt Romney’s a flip-flopper, Rick Perry can’t debate, Herman Cain may or may not have sexually harassed four women — and the list goes all the way down. But with Americans looking for some help with their finances and a way to fix the economy, an affair from 17 years ago might be consciously obscured by Gingrich’s knowledge, historical observations, and “I can fix that” plans for almost everything that ails the country.
A month ago, Gingrich was a joke, with even Saturday Night Live painting him as a disinterested bore who would gladly accept when offered the chance to leave the room. Heading into tonight’s debate, however, he’s a suddenly-viable candidate who seems to be getting stronger as each day passes.
Sign up for Mediaite's daily newsletter.
-
Anonymous
-
yungchii
-
Anonymous
-
Busslug
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FSPIVAFYI672OH5NOKVRTEZA4U MadCharles
-
Anonymous
-
Anonymous
-
Anonymous
-
Anonymous
-
Anonymous
-
http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog
-
CarmanK
-
Anonymous
-
Anonymous
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FSPIVAFYI672OH5NOKVRTEZA4U MadCharles
-
Anonymous
-
http://twitter.com/PaulAckerman Paul Ackerman
-
Anonymous
-
Anonymous
-
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/ Medicalquack
-
Bware
-
Ark
-
Lizton
-
Anonymous
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FSPIVAFYI672OH5NOKVRTEZA4U MadCharles
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SIYF5565LXG7BBKTKGSSFWU7TA The Rock
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SIYF5565LXG7BBKTKGSSFWU7TA The Rock
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SIYF5565LXG7BBKTKGSSFWU7TA The Rock
-
http://www.facebook.com/bruce.kennedy3 Bruce Kennedy
-
TheShatwood
-
Evan Grantham-Brown
-
APKay
-
Anonymous
-
Getagrip
-
Patricia Leath
-
Anonymous
-
ajironworks
-
ajironworks
-
ajironworks
-
ajironworks
Tammy Bruce To Liberals Tricked By Twitter Joke About Fox News Discriminating Gays: ‘Bwahaha!’
Donald Trump Is Considering Starting His Own Super PAC To Defeat Obama
More Online/Print:

















Explicit Image Of S.E. Cupp (It’s A Fake) In Hustler Magazine Sparks Outrage
The Uncanniest Cable News Doppelgangers
Who Should Be On Next Season’s Celebrity Apprentice? A Mediaite Wish List
Obama Campaign Spokesman Woefully Unprepared For Anderson Cooper
Hannity Takes On Colin Powell, Questioning His 2008 Endorsement Of Obama
Explicit Image Of S.E. Cupp (It’s A Fake) In Hustler Magazine Sparks Outrage
Conservative Teen Opens Up About ‘Vile, Vulgar’ Reaction To Her Video On Gay Marriage
Yet Another Survey: Fox News Viewers Worst-Informed, NPR Listeners Best-Informed
MSNBC’s Ed Schultz: Is Birtherism ‘Just Another Form Of Racism?’









RSS